


sanctuary

by Serie11



Category: Kingdom Hearts (Video Games)
Genre: 5+1 Things, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, Domestic, Established Relationship, Fluff, Forehead Kisses, Gentle Kissing, Kissing, Multi, POV Riku (Kingdom Hearts), Post-Kingdom Hearts III, SoRiKai Week 2020, Sora Lives (Kingdom Hearts)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-08
Updated: 2020-08-08
Packaged: 2021-03-06 03:14:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,492
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25776457
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Serie11/pseuds/Serie11
Summary: Five times Sora and Kairi kissed Riku, and one time Riku kissed them backSorikai week day 5:Domestic|Gifts
Relationships: Kairi/Riku/Sora (Kingdom Hearts)
Comments: 2
Kudos: 37
Collections: Sorikai Week





	sanctuary

i

He can’t stop staring at them.

Kairi and Sora weren’t gone for very long, but every second of it dragged on for far too long for him. He was aware of each breath that he took, like somehow the beat of his heart was at fault for their absence. If only he’d been faster. Better. Stronger. Then they wouldn’t have disappeared at all – wouldn’t have left him alone, to pick up all the pieces of himself. Again.

But they’re back now, and Riku can hardly believe it. Exhausted, and weary, and yet still smiling, lost in each other and their friends as they gain an unlimited supply of hugs from everyone. Riku leans against the nearest wall, not joining in, if only because he doesn’t think his legs will be able to hold him up if he tries to stand properly. His knees feel like jelly, wobbly and unstable and definitely not good to be walked on.

“Hey, guys, give us some air,” Sora laughs. He’s still holding hands with Kairi, casually but firmly.

“We’re just glad to see ya!” Mickey says, almost bouncing up and down on the spot.

“What the King said,” Donald quacks.

“I’m so happy you’re back!” Goofy exclaims.

Kairi smiles up at all of them, and then her gaze alights upon Riku. “Hey Riku,” she calls, her expression lighting up. She and Sora make their way towards him, and he looks at them hungrily, devouring the way the light hits their skin, how they move together, their smiles. If he really is dreaming this, then it’ll be the first dream that he’s had since he became Sora’s dreameater, and he doesn’t think he wants to wake up.

“Hi,” Sora says, reaching out to grad his hand. Riku lets him hold it, eyes roaming his face.

“We’re home,” Kairi tells him, sliding her hand inside his. Like this, they’re a circle that Riku never thought he’d get to be a part of ever again.

“Sora,” he manages to say. “Kairi.”

“Glad you didn’t forget us,” Sora quips.

“Never,” Riku vows. “I wouldn’t.”

“We know,” Kairi reassures him. She reaches up to kiss him softly. Somehow, her lips are still the same as he remembers. Shouldn’t they have changed, somehow? He feels like he has changed. She probably has, too. Yet the warmth of her kiss is exactly the same.

“Hey, me too!” Sora says, and Kairi pulls away with a laugh. Sora surges up to meet him and Riku dazedly thinks that this is probably the best day of his life.

“There’s a lot to talk about,” Kairi says. “But we don’t have to go over it now, if you don’t feel up to it.”

“I’m fine,” Riku says. Then he laughs, lighter than he has been in a long time. “I’m great. Let’s talk.”

“Sounds like a plan,” Sora agrees. Riku follows them when they tug him forward – he thinks he would probably follow them anywhere.

ii

Riku rolls, lifts his Keyblade and shoots a dark firaga from it, the magic blasting into the last of the Heartless. No matter where they go, it seems like they’re just fighting more and more of them. Sometimes he wonders if they’ll ever see an end to the Heartless threat or if he can count on doing this for the rest of his life.

From the other side, another cast of fire joins his, and then Sora is spiralling around in the air, hitting the Heartless on the nose. It makes a keening sound, and then it’s gone, misting away into darkness. Riku watches as the heart that it had held captive jumps free eagerly, finally finding its way into the sky, and eventually, to the true Kingdom Hearts.

“Yeah! We rock!”

Kairi and Sora hi five, excitedly talking about the mission and the battle. Riku watches both of them fondly, how Kairi elbows Sora playfully and he puts a hand to his chest, pretending to be grievously injured because of it.

Kairi laughs, and slings an arm around Sora’s shoulders. “You were great too, Riku,” she says cheerfully. A spark of mischief enters her eyes. “Hey Sora, we should reward our knight in shining armour for being so generous and helping us out, right?”

The mischief is infectious. Sora grins widely. “Oh yeah, definitely!”

“Guys,” Riku tries to head them off, but they’re having none of that – Sora grabs him first, and Kairi follows, and he staggers under their combined weights as they press kisses against his skin. Riku can’t help but laugh a little as Kairi digs her fingers into his side, and evilly, Sora copies her.

“His weak spot!” Kairi crows.

“We can’t let this opportunity pass,” Sora agrees.

Riku goes down in a pile of flailing limbs and laughter, and wouldn’t have it any other way.

iii

“I’m glad that things have been quiet,” Leon says. There’s the rumble of voices in the other room, Yuffie’s excited tone matching Sora’s exactly. “It’s been much the same around here. The Heartless are always around of course, but they’ve been manageable.”

“Sora and Kairi are even back in school,” Riku says. He looks down at the holographic map that Leon has marked out incidents on, the red pointers few and far between. “I’ve been helping Aqua out when I’m not going around with them to different worlds to make sure that there’s nothing brewing.”

“You’re not going back to school?” Leon asks, one eyebrow raised. Riku tries not to flush with embarrassment. He’s had a few people question this choice, but he’s sure of it.

“Yeah. There’s a lot of things that need doing, and I spend enough time reading Aqua’s musty old Keyblade Master texts without having to worry about other schoolwork too. Between that and patrolling different worlds, I’m keeping busy.”

“I’m glad to see that you’re happy.” Leon smirks at him as Riku’s attempt to stop blushing fails. “You’re gonna dispute me?”

“Nah,” Riku says. “Just wish that it were better here for you guys.”

“Have you been listening?” Leon asks wryly. “It’s good here too. And even better when you guys stop by.”

“Well,” Riku starts, but doesn’t know how to keep going. After all, things are the best around here that he’s ever seen. In the days of Hollow Bastion, this place was a complete wreck, overrun with Heartless and darkness. Now, it’s a quietly bustling world, with a lively marketplace and people ready to protect this place, to defend it. There are scientists and guards and people in the castle as well as the town, and the Restoration Committee is more of a formality than anything. Maybe Leon is right.

Leon has that small uptilt to his lips that Riku has grown used to over the years. He opens his mouth to say that he’s glad that everyone is happy here too, when Aerith sticks her head inside the room.

“Heya tough guys,” she says. “Dinner’s ready, don’t let it get cold!”

“Of course,” Riku agrees.

“I would never miss out on Tifa’s cooking,” Leon says. He slaps a hand across Riku’s back as he passes him. “C’mon.”

Aerith and Tifa’s house is lovely, full of homely bits and pieces that make Riku feel at ease. Everyone is already sitting at the table, and Riku takes his place between Sora and Kairi.

“Finally willing to join us?” Sora asks.

“Sora,” Kairi chides him. “They had to talk about guy stuff!”

“Oh, right, guy stuff.” Sora pauses. “How come I wasn’t included in this guy stuff?”

“It’s tough guy stuff,” Aerith tells him, tapping her nose knowingly.

“Huh,” Sora hums. “Wait a second, I’m tough!”

“Of course you are,” Aerith agrees seriously.

“She’s just teasing you,” Yuffie butts in. “I know, because she does it all the time to me!”

“Teasing at my table?” Tifa asks, coming in with the last dish in her hands. “Without me?”

“Apparently so,” Leon sighs. “Yuffie, can’t you keep control of yourself for one meal?”

“Hey, it was Aerith who was doing the teasing!”

“This looks great Tifa,” Kairi says, smiling up at the older woman.

“I’m glad,” Tifa says.

“I’m manly,” Sora grumps from Riku’s side.

“I know,” Kairi says. “Sora, it’s about proving that Riku is just on your level.”

“Ah,” Sora says. “I understand you perfectly, Kairi.”

Riku sits still as they both lean in and plant loud, wet kisses on his cheeks. Aerith starts cooing over how cute they are, while Leon just puts a hand on his forehead.

“Okay, yep, you’ve proven your manliness!” Yuffie half yells. “Can we eat now?”

“Priorities,” Aerith huffs, but Tifa starts serving one dish and she starts serving another.

Riku grabs for some food to put on Kairi and Sora’s plates, and settles in to enjoy an evening with his friends.

iv

“Are you sure we can all fit in this bed?” Riku mumbles, trying to find a way to lie that doesn’t result in half of him hanging off the side of the bed. “Because right now I’m not fitting.”

“Move over Kairi,” Sora says, and the two of them shuffle over. Riku still has to press his face into the back of Sora’s neck, but with a few tugs of the blanket it falls over him, and probably Kairi too.

“I can look at getting a bigger bed soon,” Kairi yawns from somewhere. “If you two are going to be staying over more often.”

“Your dad seemed to be interested in letting us know we could come over whenever,” Sora muses.

“Oh my god shut up,” Kairi says. There’s a brief scuffle between them that leaves Riku teetering precariously on the edge of the bed again.

“Okay,” he says, standing up. Sora squeaks when he picks him up, but Riku just puts him on the edge of the bed so he can lie in the middle. “If you two are going to argue then I get to be in the middle.”

“You just don’t want to risk falling out,” Sora complains.

“If you’re stealing the middle place from Sora then you have to come with me tomorrow to go bed shopping,” Kairi says drowsily. She sticks her feet between Riku’s shins, and he grits his teeth. It’s not even that cold – why are her feet blocks of ice?!

“Do you mind,” he says stiffly.

“But you’re so warm,” Kairi yawns. She snuggles into his side, and Riku sighs long-sufferingly, acting more put out than he really is. “Oh hush,” Kairi mumbles. She presses a kiss against his collarbone, lips smearing warmth against his skin and leaving coolness in their wake. “Sleep now. I’m tired.”

“Yeah Riku,” Sora agrees, curling an arm around his waist and settling in close. He presses a kiss onto the back of his neck. “Kairi’s right.”

“Usually am.”

“Hey!”

“I said no fighting,” Riku says. Sora squeezes him closer slightly.

“If Riku insists,” he says.

“I do.”

“Shh!”

“Are we seven again?”

“If you bring my dad in here I’m kicking you out onto the street.”

“You’re so mean Kairi.”

Riku smiles against Kairi’s hair, and closes his eyes.

v

“I’m freezing!”

Riku looks over his shoulder to where Sora is hugging himself. His nose is bright red even in his jacket. The snow around them reflects the sun brightly, and he finds himself having to squint even in the mellow afternoon light.

“You should have brought another jacket then,” Riku tells him.

“Are you sure I can’t have yours?” Sora asks.

“Then _I_ would be the cold one.”

“Yeah, but your jacket is so long! Because you’re so tall. I bet it would be very cosy.”

“And what am I meant to do, spontaneously evolve an internal heat source?”

Sora has caught up to him by now, and he squints up at Riku consideringly. “I’m sure we could make it happen,” he decides. “Magic can do a lot of things! You know, one time I got a fish tail and could breathe underwater. Giving you an internal heater should be possible, surely.”

“Maybe the cold is really getting to your brain,” Riku says. “You’re talking nonsense.”

“How come it has to snow on this world?” Sora says, looking around. The Land of Departure is quiet and cold, the only movement the slowly falling snowflakes. “If this was Arendelle, at least I could have been more prepared and actually brought a proper jumper. I never go there without one!”

“Maybe you should add it to your regular outfit?” Riku suggests. Sora makes a face.

“C’mon, that doesn’t make sense. Can you imagine me running around the Islands with a jumper? I’d look ridiculous.”

“Ask Donald to make you a jumper that you can summon just like our Keyblades,” Riku suggests, slapping him on the shoulder. “We should be getting back.”

“I know, I’m coming,” Sora says.

“Aqua promised that she would have something warm waiting for us when we got back to the castle, as thanks,” Riku reminds him. “The faster we get there, the faster we can have it.”

“Do you think Kairi and Ven have made it back yet?” Sora asks. “They only went out with light jumpers too. Why did this snowstorm happen so suddenly?”

“It was already snowing when we left,” Riku says doubtfully.

Sora flaps his hand around in the air. “Details, details. It got colder and colder as time went on!”

“That’s because we left in the middle of the day,” Riku says. He sweeps Sora into his arms. “Come on, lets go.”

“Riku,” Sora says against his face. His nose feels more like an icicle than something that is attached to a living person. “You don’t have to carry me.”

“You were spending too much time complaining and not enough time walking.”

“The snow drifts are hard to walk in,” Sora continues complaining. “You’re so handsome and tall, you can get through them easily.”

Riku doesn’t want to fall for it. Still, he asks, “What has me being handsome got to do with getting through the snow easier?”

“ _Obviously,”_ Sora insists. “Obviously, the snow sees you and is so amazed by how handsome you are that it parts for you. You don’t have to do any work at all, and bam, the snow is gone!”

Riku trudges his way through the snowdrifts, a task made harder by the fact that he’s holding a whole person and that whole person is making it harder to see where he’s stepping. The snow does not appear to be acting with a will of its own, except to continue piling up higher. “Really,” Riku says.

“Really really,” Sora confirms. “Oh how hard a life you must leave, making even the snow swoon!”

He can see the lights of the castle. Which is good, because he is actually beginning to think that the cold has done something strange to Sora. “We’re almost there.”

“See how distance flies past!” Sora exclaims.

Riku barely resists rolling his eyes.

They manage to get to the castle. Riku puts Sora down, who pouts at him adoringly.

“A thank you kiss for my prince!” he yells, and Riku succeeds in keeping his feet as Sora throws himself into his arms and plants a loud kiss on his cheek. Riku pats his head consolingly and heads towards the living areas where he hopes the fire will be lit. Dumping Sora in front of it sounds like a very good idea.

The living area is quite full – Kairi and Terra are sitting on one lounge, with evidence of one of Aqua’s scattered projects on another. Ven is currently doing a handstand in the middle of the room. Riku puts Sora in the closest chair to the fire, and discreetly nudges the chair a bit closer to the flames.

“Hey guys,” Terra greets them. “Glad you made it back. Won’t be long before the sun sets.”

“Already?” Kairi asks him.

“The mountains are right there, and block out the sun super early,” Terra tells her. “We might have another hour of sun at most before it disappears.”

Sora appears to have fallen into a coma already. Riku settles himself beside Kairi, who immediately latches onto him like she’s some sort of octopus. Despite her being inside for longer than he has been, she’s still cold.

“You’re just as bad as Sora,” he tells her.

“How come you’re so warm?” she says in his ear. “Aqua and Vanitas are cooking dinner for us, but it won’t be done for another half an hour at least!”

“When did you get back?” Riku asks.

“Only a few minutes ago,” Kairi says. Riku spots her outer jacket on one of the other lounges, quickly melting snow still trapped in some of the folds. She sticks her hands under his shirt and he hisses.

“Kairi!”

“Sorry,” she says, moving her hands very slowly up his back. “You’re warm.”

“Hmpf,” he says.

“Aw, you’re so cute when you’re grumpy.” Kairi tilts her head. “Here, have this as payment.” She leans forward and kisses him. He’s still for a second before he leans into it, the touch lighting a different type of warmth in him. Maybe this will warm her fingers up more quickly, he tells himself.

vi

Riku is woken by something sharp pressing into his gut. He tenses, only to realise a moment later that it’s just Sora’s elbow. He lets out a long breath, and turns his head to peer at the time. It’s half past three, which really means that he should close his eyes and get back to sleep. Except there’s something tugging at his gut, that part of him that got added after his and Sora’s journey to the realm of sleep.

On his other side, Kairi whimpers softly.

He blinks a few times to wake himself up, and then shakes Sora’s shoulder. “Hey,” he says. Sora rolls over but doesn’t wake. Riku goes for the easier target and turns to Kairi. “Kairi. Wake up.”

It’s not rare that they have nightmares, but Riku thinks that this is the first time that the both of them have woken him up at the same time. He takes a second to be thankful that he doesn’t dream anymore, and pats Kairi’s bundled form.

She mumbles something, and he finds her shoulder and shakes her gently. “Kairi,” he says again. “Wake up, dear heart.”

She tenses suddenly, half sitting up and gasping sharply. He lays a hand on her leg to let her know that he’s here, and waits for her to come to her senses.

“Riku?” she murmurs. “What’s wrong?”

“You were having a bad dream,” he says. “You alright?”

“Ugh,” she says, like she’s spitting some bad taste out of her mouth. “Yeah, I guess. Just the normal stuff.”

“Let me wake sleepy head here, he’s not too crash hot at the moment either,” Riku tells her. “Then we can talk it all out.”

“Do we have to,” Kairi half complains, but she cuddles up to his side when he turns to poke Sora again.

“Sora,” he says, louder this time. “C’mon, buddy. Wake up.”

It takes a bit more effort, and a bit more shaking, but Sora eventually blinks his eyes open wearily. “Huh?” he slurs, fighting with his blankets. Riku is sure that one of these days he’s going to lose to them and end up smothered.

“You were having a nightmare,” Riku tells him. He can’t eat them anymore, but he can still sense them, and waking Sora is the only option he has now. “You alright?”

Sora is silent. It’s always harder to get him to share than Kairi. “I guess,” he says shortly. “And shh, you’ll wake Kairi.”

“I’m already awake,” Kairi says, halfway through a yawn.

“You both woke me up,” Riku tells them. “Either of you want to share?”

“Like I said,” Kairi says gloomily. “Just normal stuff. Getting hurt, you guys getting hurt, losing a fight, losing my heart, take your pick. Not anything in particular tonight.”

“Hmm,” Riku hums, drawing her close. She slings her arms around him and puts her head in his lap. “What about you, Sora?”

“You know,” Sora deflects. “About the same.”

“You can tell us,” Riku murmurs softly. “We’re here for you. But you don’t have to if you don’t want to. Come here.”

He rearranges all of them, so that Kairi and Sora’s heads are cushioned on his shoulders with his arms wrapped around them. He’s pretty sure that his back will hate him in the morning, but right now he’d much prefer to hold the both of them until they get back to sleep. He presses a soft kiss against the crown of Sora’s head, and then against Kairi’s forehead, and feels them both relax against him.

It’s still a few hours until they’ll get up, and they might dream again. But if they do, Riku will be here, to guard against the night and protect them, like he always has.


End file.
